We had been flying for about twenty minutes when Magnis started getting restless. His tail swished and he shook his massive head, before telling all of us to start descending. I led the way to where he wanted us to go, and soon we landed in an open field.
There was a thick stench in the air, and when I asked Magnis what it was, he said that it was the smell of death. The field wasn't empty like we had originally thought, and in the center was a massive white Dragon, symbolizing the Wind element, and an adolescent white Dragon beside it. When we landed, the young Dragon looked at us.
"Can you please help us? My name is Autumn." Autumn asked tearfully. "I know she's already dead, but can you please help me give her a proper send-off?" She then turned to me and continued. "You're our King, right? Please help me do right by my mother!" Autumn then started wailing again.
Giving Magnis control, I let him speak. "Don't worry, child. We'll give your mother a proper Dragon burial." Saying this, he looked at Nigel, Nixis, Umbra, and Donny. All of them nodded before they started walking toward the body of the dead Dragon. Raising his head, Magnis let out a keen cry for his fallen clanswomen. Then, all five of them let their fire flow and set the corpse alight.
As we all watched the body burn, the sound of two helicopters could be heard. Soon, they landed in the field with us and about 15 people got out. They all wore matching black uniforms with an H and A sewn in golden thread. The Hunters Association had arrived.
One by one, we all shifted into our human forms. Autumn's human was a pale skinned girl of about 13 years old with straight black hair and pale baby blue eyes. We hid her behind us while we summoned our weapons. It was part of the magic that came with being a Dragon, and it came in handy during times like this. Donny stayed with her while the rest of us walked forward. Umbra and Nixis chose assault rifles while Nigel and I chose the daisho, a pair consisting of a Katana and Wakizashi. Ours were Damascus-styled Spring Steel with a full-tang handle. They were stronger than a traditionally made pair, and they were my favorite.
We knew that there wasn't going to be any talking with them. They lifted their guns and started firing, while we used our magic to form shields. I ran up to an HA member, skillfully twirling my blades to knock down the bullets, before twisting my Wakizashi to cut off one of his hands. This caused him to drop the gun so that I could use the Katana to sever his head from his shoulders.
Even though I've been training for years, this is the first time I've used it against an enemy. All of the times that I had been captured, they were always stronger, but I now have all of my powers. Now is going to be different. Pretty soon, the ground became slick from the blood being spilled, and the stench of blood and smoke was causing my stomach to turn. I had a few scratches from the amount of bullets being fired, but nothing serious, and my godfathers were holding their own as well.
I was not only fighting for my life, but I was also fighting my body as well. Donatello kept a shield around him and Autumn, so while he did his part, we did ours. At some point during the fight, more helicopters arrived with reinforcements. All together, it was almost an hour before we had killed them all. When the fighting was over, I lost the battle with my stomach.
My body was shaking with the force of my vomiting, and Nigel came up to me. He rubbed my back before speaking. "Killing someone for the first time is hard, but you did good, Andrew. We're all proud of you, and we will help you through this." As I finished vomiting, I nodded my thanks. I really was going to have to talk to them about this.
Standing up, I walked back to Donny and Autumn and crouched down in front of her. "My name is Andrew and, as you know, my Dragon, Magnis, is the Dragon King. I'm sorry you lost your mother, but do you know where your father or other relatives are?" As I asked this, I saw Autumn's eyes start to water again. I already knew the answer, she was all alone with no relatives left to care for her.
Putting my hand on her shoulder, I made a decision. "Why don't you come back with us? We can take you to my aunt and uncle, and they would be willing to help you."
"Really? They would really help me?" I saw doubt in her eyes, evidence of her mistrust in humans, who she could smell on us.
"My aunt and uncle are human, yes, but they don't discriminate against those who aren't human. I promise this to you." As I spoke, I saw hope slowly shine in her eyes. Then, out of curiosity, I asked her another question. "How old are you, Autumn?"
"I turned 13 yesterday." She replied while looking down. Only 13 years old and she's already lost her entire family. I felt bad that she was going through this, and that made me want to help her more. Standing up, I held my hand out for her to take.
"Let's go back, shall we?" Seeing her nod, we all shifted back into our Dragons and, with me leading, flew back to the castle. Everyone was still on the patio when we landed, and they all wore a matching look of concern. My godfathers and I shifted back into our human forms, but Autumn stayed as a Dragon. I went up to my parents and they gave me a hug while my aunt and uncle walked up to us.
"Was everything okay? We saw smoke along the treeline." Uncle Richard asked, concern heavy in his voice. I was still in my parents' embrace, so I looked at Umbra. My complexion was still pale and I was shaking, so I didn't trust my voice at this moment. As Umbra explained everything that happened, I promised my parents that I would be talking with my godfathers about this. That appeased them, but I knew that it would be a while before I worked through this experience with them.
When I finally felt like I could talk again, I asked everyone a question. "What can we do about Autumn? She's only 13 years old, and has no living family members left." My aunt and uncle asked if I could get her to shift into her human form, that way they could talk to her. Dragons only telepathically communicated with those they trust, since we had to open our minds to them. They all felt like I had the best chance, since she seemed to trust me. I told them that I would try before walking up to Autumn.
"Autumn? Do you think you could shift into a human for us?" I quietly asked this question while crouching down. My goal was to not scare her, but it didn't work. She tried curling into a ball and hid her head under her right wing. I knew she was scared, but we needed her to shift so that we could help her. "It's okay, Autumn. I know you're scared, but we only want to help you, I promise. My aunt and uncle want to talk to you and, if you want, I will stay by your side. You won't have to do this alone." My quiet words seemed to have been heard, because she slowly uncurled her body.
She looked at me for a bit before slowly shifting into her human form. With her still looking scared, I held my hand out for her again with a small smile, showing her my silent support. Taking it, she followed me to the others. "Aunt Mary and Uncle Richard, this is Autumn. Autumn, this is my aunt and uncle. They are the current King and Queen of Picantia." As I introduced them to one another, Autumn gave a small curtsy as a sign of respect.
"I'm sorry to hear about your situation, my dear. I hope that my husband and I can help you." Aunt Mary said as she held Autumn's hands. I stayed by her side as I had promised. To my surprise, she threw herself into my aunt's arms and cried. Mary held her as she cried and whispered soothing words into her ear.
"Mary, dear, if Autumn is willing, how would you feel about her staying here?" Uncle Richard's question took everyone by surprise. "I know that you've always wanted another daughter, but can't conceive anymore. But how about opening our home and adopting one, if she is willing?" This last question was directed at Autumn. She looked at my aunt and uncle, then turned to me. I smiled and nodded my encouragement. The final decision was up to her and no one could make it for her. However, I felt like she would be happy here. She would have loving parents, and an older sister and brother.
My other cousin, James, was away at the Royal College learning how to properly rule the kingdom, so he wouldn't be around for a while. But, should Autumn agree to live here, he would be told of his new little sister.
"Are you sure? I mean…as you know, I'm not human. Do you still want me?" She asked, still uncertain about whether or not he meant what was said. To her, it could still be a trick and she was afraid of getting hurt again. My aunt and uncle looked at each other and smiled. They both turned to her and nodded while still smiling. Autumn gave a small smile herself before saying 'yes.' Looks like I have a new cousin.
Soon, our time with my aunt and uncle came to an end. I had put my number into Autumn's new phone, which she had quickly learned how to use, and told her to call or text me if she needed any help. The drive home was uneventful and by the time we walked through our front door, I was tired. Donatello had given me medicine to sleep at night, to help with my insomnia and the nightmares. I've been talking to my godfathers daily since we've rescued Autumn, and it's been helping a bit. My only hope is that I won't have to do it again for a while. The next day was Thursday, and I was hoping that it would be a decent day at school.
In the morning, I did my normal routine and decided to drive my motorcycle to school. Alex didn't have classes today, so my brothers took Josh's truck as well. At school, we all got shocked looks, since we normally didn't drive ourselves. Yes, this is our first time driving to school in our own vehicles, but they acted like other students didn't do it on a daily basis.
While we were at the castle, we were emailed our assignments, that way we didn't get behind while we were away. So, in AP World History, my brothers, Amber, and I had a free period since we had already completed the paper on the improvement of cultivation that everyone else was still working on.
In the next class, Algebra, we learned a new formula and did a worksheet that went along with it. When it was time for lunch, we decided to go to the school's music room instead. They had all kinds of instruments there, including guitars, basses, and a drum set. The music teacher gave us permission, just as long as we put them back when we were done. We smiled and agreed to the terms.
The teacher stayed, and we proceeded to check the instruments to see if they were in tune. After everything was good, we played some Five Finger Death Punch songs. We played Blue on Black, Wrong Side of Heaven, My Heart Lied, and Remember Everything. What we didn't know was that the teacher had recorded us while we played and sent it to the principal. When we were done, the principal walked in and talked to us.
"I have something that I would like to talk to you about." Principal Gray started as we listened to her. "I had asked the music teacher to keep a watchful ear out for any promising musical talents, here at the school. She sent me a video of the five of you playing, so here's my question for you guys: How would you feel about playing at the school's annual fair? It's open to the public, so everyone will be there, and we were thinking about having live music being played by some students." The principal's question was unexpected. We looked at each other, and when I saw the others nodding and smiling, I agreed to the principal's offer. We were going to play at the fair, and we could choose the songs we played.